Efficiency of Assets Utilization in Chosen Agricultural Companies

Paper's objective(s) and research backgroundThe Nitra region is one of the regions with suitable climatic and natural conditions for the cultivation of agricultural crops, and the development of agricultural production.Several agricultural enterprises operate in the region.Assets and its various forms are an integrated part of the enterprise and it's recorded in the balance sheet.It is divided into the least liquid assets to most liquid.The main objective of the paper was to evaluate the efficiency of the use of assets in agricultural enterprises operating in Nitra region.The paper is focused on the assessment of the state, development, and structure of assets with the subsequent forecast for the next three years.By means of selected activity indicators (turnover time and turnover) was evaluated the ability of agricultural enterprises to use their assets. Data / MethodsThe basis for the processing of the paper was data from the financial statements of enterprises (balance sheet and profit and loss statements) for the period 2015 -2022.The total set of 149 enterprises was divided into agricultural cooperatives and trading companies.Based on the Intercept and Slope functions was forecasted the development of individual items of assets of agricultural enterprises.The efficiency of asset utilization was evaluated by calculating the inventory turnover ratio and inventory turnover time, receivable collection period, debt repayment ratio and assets turnover ratio and assets turnover time in both legal forms. Results/Conclusions/Value addedThe assets of the agricultural cooperatives exceeded those of the trading companies every year.Non-current assets (with an average share of 55 % over the whole period) accounted for the highest share of total assets in agricultural cooperative.Of the non-current assets, agricultural cooperatives reported mainly tangible fixed assets.Current assets accounted for an average share of total assets of 45 %.Inventories and short-term receivables were the most significant current assets.In the terms of forecast, current assets, especially inventories, and short-term financial assets are expected to decrease in agricultural cooperatives in 2025 compared to 2022.The trend in terms of assets was similar for trading companies.Non-current assets had the highest share of assets with an average share of 64 %.Of the non-current assets exceeded tangible fixed assets.Current assets in this legal form had average share of 36 %.Of the individual items, short-term receivables and inventories had the highest share, almost at the same level.In the terms of quantification of the forecast, current assets and its two items of non-current and current receivables are expected to decrease in trading companies, in 2025 compared to 2022.Based on the quantification of selected activity indicators, agricultural cooperatives show higher values than trading companies only for the indicator of inventory turnover time.